How To Build Muscle Without Supplements

The supplement industry is booming, and it has been for years – as one of the bodybuilding supplement market leaders we should know. Some are better quality than others and some have been known to cause harsh side effects. We keep it safe and legal here at CrazyBulk but we can understand why some people would want to know how to gain muscle without supplements.

All you need to do is rely on your body’s natural mechanisms and what Mother Nature has craftily laid out before you.

Lift weights on a regular schedule

Unless you live under a box of rocks, you are well aware that muscles are built when you tax them to a point where they sustain small tears. Don’t worry, this isn’t dangerous. A complete tear of a muscle from a freak accident is.

Anyway, the way to do this is through the medium of weightlifting. You know that burn you feel when you do a series of reps? That means you are substantially working your muscles to a point where you can get a favorable response.

Now apply this to your workouts. You need to work out hard enough to “feel the burn.” It is then that you will suffer the small tears. But you will also promote hypertrophy, which is the scientific name for building muscle.

You can reach this point without resorting to supplements. You just need to train smart instead of like a dope.

The bottom line is: Follow a workout schematic where you target all of your major muscle groups and use a load that will cause you to feel fatigued – like you really did something. That’s about as complicated as it gets.

Oh, there is one more thing. For the love of everything humane, use proper form! You won’t make any progress if your technique is off, regardless of whether you’re supplementing or not. Move through a full range of motion, don’t use momentum to move the weights, and focus hard on moving in a slow and controlled motion.

Actually, there’s one more thing. Do not work the same muscles on consecutive days. They need time to recover, or this will surely set you up for injury. Take a minimum of 24 hours off before working the same muscle groups.

Eat the right way to build muscle mass

Here’s a shocker. Food came out way before supplements did. And there were plenty of strong, muscled-up men walking around back then, too. How in the heck did they do it? Really simple. They ate food. Real food with no chemicals, preservatives, or additives.

Food was actually used as medicine way back in the day, too. If it worked then, it can work for you now. You just have to know what to eat.

Your body needs three things – protein, carbs, and fat. Protein is used to rebuild the broken down muscle cells, carbs are used for energy, and fat is used to lubricate your joints and also to balance your hormone levels.

Base your diet around lean beef, chicken, turkey, fish, buffalo, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. These foods will give you everything you need to build muscle and a good brain at the same time.

It’s also in your best interests to include specific foods that have been known to boost testosterone, like avocados, eggs, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.

Work out in a fasted state

Do you know what happens when you work out on an empty stomach? No, you don’t bonk or get lightheaded. That’s a myth! As long as you stay hydrated that won’t happen. The answer you’re looking for is that your body pumps out a ton of growth hormone and testosterone.

These hormones are the quintessential hormones for building muscle throughout your entire body. If you couple fasted workouts with a solid diet that includes the foods mentioned above, you will be ripped like a zebra in no time!

If you have the cajones and want to go one step further, take short rest breaks in your workouts and integrate some intervals into your plan. By training at a high intensity, you will shove the sliders on your hormone levels up a notch higher.

Use sleep to your advantage

A body at rest stays at rest until acted upon by an outside force. If your body isn’t at rest, it’s not going to build much muscle. Not only is sleeping beneficial for building muscle, but it also puts all of your other systems into balance. You’ll then end up firing on every cylinder you have in the engine. A good 7-plus hours a night is optimal.

Related: How To Build Muscle Naturally With 5 Simple Tips

Conclusion

When building muscle without supplements, you’re making things more challenging for yourself so you need to stay disciplined. Do not skip steps or think you’re some kind of hot shot that can cut corners. That’s how you get shoddy results and end up disappointed.

If you’re looking for a more comprehensive guide on how to build muscle then just take a look at this article.